Greg Gabriel: Did the Rams Add Enough to Compete for the NFC Title?

[den-the-coach]

The Rams have always been a team that has wanted to build through the draft.

After getting to the playoffs in 2017 by winning the NFC West, they wanted to take the next step and get a first round bye as well as compete for a Super Bowl berth. In order to do that, they felt the best way to accomplish that goal was to add veterans. Not only have they done that, they added veterans with outstanding resumes.

On offense, the Rams lost wide receiver Sammy Watkins to free agency when he signed in Kansas City. The front office quickly replaced him with Brandin Cooks who may not be as physical as Watkins, but he is faster and a bit more explosive. Cooks may be a better fit in the Rams offense than Watkins was.

Along the offensive line, they wanted to add depth and did that in the draft adding tackle Joe Noteboom, center Brian Allen and tackle Jamil Demby. Getting Noteboom in the third round may be a steal because he has the talent to start as a rookie.

The biggest additions for the Rams was on defense where they have added former Pro Bowlers Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. Those additions give the Rams perhaps the strongest defensive line and secondary in the NFL.

The Rams backend will have Talib and Peters at the corners and Lamarcus Joyner and John Johnson at safety. That gives the Rams three players who are among the best at their positions in the entire NFL. Talib and Peters are both considered No. 1 corners and Joyner has top instincts, range and ball skills.

Like the secondary, the defensive line is scary it’s so strong. Suh and Aaron Donald are among the best inside players in football and give the Rams arguably the strongest inside pass rush in the NFL. The third member of the line is Michael Brockers, who is strong in his own right, as he had 55 total tackles and 4.5 sacks a year ago.

The edge pass rushers are Samson Ekubam, who will replace the departed Robert Quinn, and Matt Longacre. It was Ekubam’s and Longacre’s strong play in 2017 that allowed the Rams to trade Quinn to the Miami Dolphins. Neither has yet to reach his ceiling as an NFL player and with 2018 being their second year in Wade Phillips' attacking scheme they will only improve.

Depth at outside linebacker will come from rookie Obo Okoronkwo. Obo is only 6-foot-1 and 253 pounds but his long arms (33 ¾”) allows him to play taller. He totaled 17 sacks over the last two seasons.

The one thing that is certain, is that in 2018 it will be a nightmare for offensive coordinators trying to prepare an offensive game plan when they have to go up against the Rams.

As good as the Rams defense is, the key to the Rams showing improvement and competing to get to the next level will be the play of quarterback Jared Goff. Goff struggled as a rookie but in fairness the Rams didn’t have the offensive coaches in place to help him develop. With the hire last year of Sean McVay as head coach, the Rams surrounded Goff with top quarterback tutors and Goff showed remarkable improvement.

This off-season the Rams lost two of those coaches as Greg Olsen went to the Raiders as offensive coordinator and Matt LaFleur moved on to the Tennessee Titans. Replacing Olsen and LeFleur are Zac Taylor and Jedd Fisch to work with Goff. Both have extensive experience working with quarterbacks at both the NFL and college levels.

With 2018 being Goff's second year in McVay’s offense he should play even better than he did in 2017. Last year Goff threw for more than 3,800 yards, completed 62 percent of his throws and threw for 28 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. The expectations are that Goff improves his completion percentage and throws for more yards and touchdowns. Add in the running of Todd Gurley and the Rams offense can be almost as scary as the defense.

Did the Rams do enough to become a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Experts around the league feel they have but like with any team they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free. If that happens, the Los Angeles Rams should be a contender to win the NFC Championship come January.

[www.profootballweekly.com]

 

[den-the-coach]

Zachary Taylor and Jedd Fisch, hopefully, that will be a better combination than Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore. I feel much better about the depth at offensive line. Noteboom showcased great athletic ability at the combine and most felt he could be coached up and IMO, the Rams have one of the Offensive Line coaches in the game in Aaron Kromer. Could the Rams keep ten offensive linemen? Seems too many, most likely 9, but who goes? Right now IMO, the offensive line depth chart looks like this with the top ten.

LT...Whitworth, Noteboom
LG...Saffold, Demby
C...Sullivan, Allen
RG...Brown, Blythe
RT...Havenstein, Lucas

 

[Loyal]

 

[Ram65]

Did the Rams do enough to become a legitimate Super Bowl contender? Experts around the league feel they have but like with any team they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free. If that happens, the Los Angeles Rams should be a contender to win the NFC Championship come January.

The guy did a good job on the off season moves. He has Ebukam and Longacre as the top fillings off the edge. Makes good references to the drafting of offensive lineman and Obo. Then he wimps out on giving a detail opinions of what he feels the Rams can do. Come on this quote is just mailing it in at the end.

"they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free"

 

[jap]

Zachary Taylor and Jedd Fisch, hopefully, that will be a better combination than Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore. I feel much better about the depth at offensive line. Noteboom showcased great athletic ability at the combine and most felt he could be coached up and IMO, the Rams have one of the Offensive Line coaches in the game in Aaron Kromer. Could the Rams keep ten offensive linemen? Seems too many, most likely 9, but who goes? Right now IMO, the offensive line depth chart looks like this with the top ten.

LT...Whitworth, Noteboom
LG...Saffold, Demby
C...Sullivan, Allen
RG...Brown, Blythe
RT...Havenstein, Lucas

Noteboom appears to be mostly fundamentally sound. However, like most rookie OL guys, he needs to improve his overall strength to compete against the top defenders. Even the great Orlando 'Lando Pace made great strides after his first full NFL off-season. Then Saint Louis Rams head coach Dick Vermeil talked about how 'Lando changed his physical form and came into his sophomore Rams training camp looking physically different, physically enhanced. Will Noteboom showcase the type of dedication to his craft that 'Lando exhibited? He could probably play against all but the most physically dominant or craftiest DEs and OLBs right now. But to excel to the highest potential level he must upgrade his body and technique to a high degree.

 

[den-the-coach]

But to excel to the highest potential level he must upgrade his body and technique to a high degree.

And that's a great point and what the Rams liked about Noteboom is the ability to add more to the frame of 6-5 306 and Jamil Demby as well adding strength to his 6-5 335lbs stature. Overall I really feel the Rams loved Noteboom's agility and footwork, which is a major asset for LT. Plus the Rams drafted many academic stars, knowing, they can pick up the schemes quickly and I for one applaud their efforts in that capacity.

 

[dang]

Still banging the drum for 1or 2 FAs to round out the defense. Edge and S could benefit with the additional depth and leadership.

 

[badnews]

We had enough to contend for the NFC title BEFORE we added Peters, Talib, Suh and swapped Watkins for Cooks.

Now we have enough in all 3 phases to contend for being among the most complete teams in modern NFL history.
Will we achieve everything our roster and coaching staff can accomplish? Who the hell knows.

We're a long long way from that 2011 roster. We are armed with the NFLs best trio at K, P and Returner and coached by undoubtedly the top STs coordinator in the league.
Wade Phillips has an arsenal of monsters to attack QBs and a flock of ballhawks on the backside.
Todd Gurley is the next in a long line of Rams HOF caliber RBs, but unlike some of those greats, he has a top passing game to work with.
We have a group of recievers that can do anything Sean McVay scribbles down on the watercooler.

Last and not least we have Jared Goff at QB.
If you watched him last season then you know just how fucking good this kid already is and are excited to see just how much better he can be.

So can we contend for an NFC title?
Motherfucker we can contend for an undefeated season and the greatest point differential in league history.

 

[majrleaged]

The guy did a good job on the off season moves. He has Ebukam and Longacre as the top fillings off the edge. Makes good references to the drafting of offensive lineman and Obo. Then he wimps out on giving a detail opinions of what he feels the Rams can do. Come on this quote is just mailing it in at the end.

"they have to play to their potential and keep core players injury free"

Captain Obvious

 

[fearsomefour]

The only concerns (except the generic nod to health and depth) is LB and Greg Olson leaving.

 

[jap]

We had enough to contend for the NFC title BEFORE we added Peters, Talib, Suh and swapped Watkins for Cooks.

Now we have enough in all 3 phases to contend for being among the most complete teams in modern NFL history.
Will we achieve everything our roster and coaching staff can accomplish? Who the hell knows.

My longtime LA Horn wet dream is having a team registering in the NFL's top five in offense, defense, and special teams. Can we go for a wet dream overdrive & finally have a team hitting the top spot in all three categories simultaneously? Am I greedy or what? :mrburnsevil:

We're a long long way from that 2011 roster. We are armed with the NFLs best trio at K, P and Returner and coached by undoubtedly the top STs coordinator in the league.Now we have enough in all 3 phases to contend for being among the most complete teams in modern NFL history.

You forgot The Invisible Man, Jake McQuaid, the long snapper extraordinaire. But then the guy is so darn good at his job he is so easy to forget!!!

Wade Phillips has an arsenal of monsters to attack QBs and a flock of ballhawks on the backside.

I still want that all-time NFL defensive team sack record, but I wonder if we have the edge rushing to pull it off. Does our murderer's row of Aaron "The Kracken" Donald, Ndamukong "King Kong" Suh, and The incredible Brock have to take the lead by establishing insane records for sacks by a trio of DL guys?

Todd Gurley is the next in a long line of Rams HOF caliber RBs, but unlike some of those greats, he has a top passing game to work with.

That was Eric "the Great" Dickenson's wish for himself, which he now wishes on Todd.

We have a group of receivers that can do anything Sean McVay scribbles down on the watercooler.

If the TE's start catching up to the WRs in savvy and sure-handedness, we may really see something truly special this season.

Last and not least we have Jared Goff at QB. If you watched him last season then you know just how freaking good this kid already is and are excited to see just how much better he can be.

Still needs to fine tune his accuracy downtown (but then, doesn't everybody?) and needs to master throwing on the run since the better defenses will never allow a QB to simply camp out in the pocket all day to fine his targets.

So can we contend for an NFC title? Motherfreaker we can contend for an undefeated season and the greatest point differential in league history.

We are here to bury the rest of the NFL--not just compete with them. However, all that is so easy to say. We need to put in some major development with a lot of very young & older guys this training camp & pre-season so we can shine like a beacon of NFL excellence all season long.

 

[Dodgersrf]

Zachary Taylor and Jedd Fisch, hopefully, that will be a better combination than Zachary Taylor & Millard Fillmore. I feel much better about the depth at offensive line. Noteboom showcased great athletic ability at the combine and most felt he could be coached up and IMO, the Rams have one of the Offensive Line coaches in the game in Aaron Kromer. Could the Rams keep ten offensive linemen? Seems too many, most likely 9, but who goes? Right now IMO, the offensive line depth chart looks like this with the top ten.

LT...Whitworth, Noteboom
LG...Saffold, Demby
C...Sullivan, Allen
RG...Brown, Blythe
RT...Havenstein, Lucas

Idk, Den. But keeping 3 rookies doesn't leave us with much experience as far as depth.
Maybe all 3 of our rookies will impress in camp. If not, Demby to the PS?

 

[ReekofRams]

Still banging the drum for 1or 2 FAs to round out the defense. Edge and S could benefit with the additional depth and leadership.

If you're going to bang the drum for more free agent signings, then you're also going to have to bang the drum for players to be cut to make room under the cap to sign those free agents with.

And please don't list Barron as one of those cuts, because of they were going to cut Barron they would've already done so.

I don't think they'll be restructuring any contracts either, as they're already going to be strapped for the next few years.

 

[Tailback]

Noteboom appears to be mostly fundamentally sound. However, like most rookie OL guys, he needs to improve his overall strength to compete against the top defenders. Even the great Orlando 'Lando Pace made great strides after his first full NFL off-season. Then Saint Louis Rams head coach Dick Vermeil talked about how 'Lando changed his physical form and came into his sophomore Rams training camp looking physically different, physically enhanced. Will Noteboom showcase the type of dedication to his craft that 'Lando exhibited? He could probably play against all but the most physically dominant or craftiest DEs and OLBs right now. But to excel to the highest potential level he must upgrade his body and technique to a high degree.

I remember Saint Vermiel saying that Orlando came into camp (I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember it exactly) looking "As sleek as a panther and just as quick" or something like that.

 

[LesBaker]

I think in the NFC the race is on between the Eagles and Rams. Last year was a great game, back and forth scoring and it could have broken the Rams way. Which would have given them home field through the playoffs. Goff's fumble turned the game in the Eagles favor, and they were lucky to get out of there with a W.

That was the most points the Eagles gave up all year and IMO had Goff not had the ball stripped they would have gotten to 38 points and the end of the game would have been different. 38-34 would mean the Eagles would have had to drive the ball all the way into the end zone with little time on the clock and frankly the Rams defense had tightened up, and of course Foles is not Wentz.

It looks to me like these two are going to be in many battles in the post season and the NFL will have them matched up in the regular season as often as possible to enhance the rivalry and get eyeballs on the TV.

 

[AvengerRam]

We have enough to contend.

Unfortunately, so do the Eagles, Saints, Vikings and Falcons.

 

[den-the-coach]

If not, Demby to the PS?

No, that's my guy.

 

[Memento]

No, that's my guy.

He's my guy as well, and I have faith that he'll stay on the active roster.

 

[den-the-coach]

He's my guy as well, and I have faith that he'll stay on the active roster.

Me too, liked him from reading up on him plus knowing several individuals that played for the University of Maine. Also I feel new Assistant WR Coach Liam Cohen factored into equation being his former offensive coordinator.

 

[badnews]

We have enough to contend.

Unfortunately, so do the Eagles, Saints, Vikings and Falcons.

Unfortunately for them, they will have to beat us... I will take our roster and coaching staff over any team and the folks placing bets on the Super Bowl seem to see it my way..